Donsak Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

This was our first time to this area of DC. After visiting the zoo, we were wondering around and many of the restaurants were almost empty except for this one. I took it as a good sign they had a decent amount of customers dining in on a Sunday evening. We were greeted warmly by the hostess and our server. All of the food came out fast and hot.

We got the Curry puffs, which were good flavor-wise but were somewhat small for the price. The sauce on the side was amazing and felt handmade.

I got the Pad Thai and was a little underwhelmed. It tasted very one-note and mostly of vinegar. I didn’t really get a lot of flavor from the peanut or the sweetness/savoryness like how I am used to when I order Pad Thai from other places. Because it was so acidic from the vinegar taste, I didn’t even really want to use the lime wedge on top. They did give me extra veggies with it when I asked which I appreciated!

My fiance got the pineapple fried rice, and I liked this a lot better. My only complaint was the pineapple was cut into huge chunks and could have been cut a little smaller to be easier to eat and mix into the rice.

The Thai tea and Thai lemon tea was delicious, and the mango sticky rice for dessert was fresh and sweet and amazing. The prices were a bit high on the dessert and appetizers, but the entree portions were very big and we were able to get two meals out of each entree.

Overall, I would come back here if I was in the area, but I would not go out of my way to come to DC to eat at this Thai restaurant. It has lots of good things and the food was definitely not bad, just did not appeal to my...

And while one hates to say a place they've patroned is racist this one absolutely was.

We were greeted by a host table for 2 and immediately seated. Behind us was a 4 top family who was seated right after. We waited about 10 minutes to be greeted. They only came because we were looking around and noticed the 4 top (european family) had been greeted and had water.

So that you understand the restaurant was not busy and it is extremely small, maybe 14 tables max. So there is no way you can see one table without seeing the whole room.

The hostess finally greeted us but couldn't help much with the menu as there was a language barrier. We ordered drinks and appetizers, and the bartender delivered the drinks. A server took our order, who we only saw twice.

Our appetizer was delivered to the table next to us, and instead of remaking it, they took it from their table and delivered it to ours. No apologies. We had to ask to have someone remove the appetizers and dirty dishes despite having our entree delivered. The appetizers were not removed from our check, no manager stopped by. No one checked on us during our meal at any point, no water or drink refill. The check was presented, and we left. I still tipped an undeserved 20%.

An extremely uncomfortable experience, and no one should feel that way when they patron a space. I am disappointed that this restaurant even exists in the District. There are much better places to eat and places where everyone feels supported. I am anti racist/racism I hope...

While out in the Woodley Park section of D.C, I happened upon Donsak. This was a great experience with exception to the host, an elder European woman who I appreciated offering me a seat at the bar..had several tables to accommodate just me [1]..yet chose to inform me that she needed the table at 7, a little less than a hour from the time I walked in. While I do understand the need to honor reservations..she spent more time emphasizing this than getting me seated...and I acknowledged that I understand and it's up to how fast I'm served. It was approximately 6:10P... *It was the manner that I was approached given that -there was ample time and -feasible for [1] person to be seated/served that was uncalled for. At the top of the hour, as I entered the establishment, I didn't need to be informed of the management of their reservations..Of course, being a party of [1] and them serving my order in adequate time, I comfortably ate, drank and paid my bill to walk out by 6:40....No problem...

Loved the food. Disliked (the manner of approach) at my point of entry, being introduced with a reservation time that not only had nothing to do with me + my visit as a party of [1] would not impact that reservation given the time I walked into this...